News / National
International donors fuel MDC-T fight
23 Feb 2014 at 09:10hrs | Views
Internation donors are at the centre of the acrimonious leadership wrangle in the opposition MDC-T, amid reports Western diplomats particularly are demanding the removal of Morgan Tsvangirai as party president, the Daily News on Sunday reported.
Highly-placed sources in the donor community confirmed that the MDC-T rebels who are pushing for Tsvangirai's ouster, have been holding secret meetings with diplomats and soliciting for funds to topple the opposition leader.
And in the wake of scuffles at the MDC-T headquarters last week which left deputy treasurer, Elton Mangoma's shirt torn, the heat has been turned on the beleaguered MDC-T leader.
Donors argue that the MDC-T leader's personal indiscretions negatively affected the image of the party, both within and outside the country. But on the ground, Tsvangirai has secured a ringing endorsement from all the 210 district chairpersons, a reality that is at variance with the donors' perceptions.
The intra-party violence has also been played up to entice donors to the group of rebels, and in the process dumping Tsvangirai, whose party is now penniless.
The embattled former prime minister told his supporters at a rally in Harare last weekend that the membership, starting in March, will have to start bankrolling the party through monthly donations.
Donors were said to channelling their funds towards the putsch against the 61-year-old opposition leader.
Luke Tamborinyoka, Tsvangirai's spokesperson, said the MDC-T leader was not worried about the withdrawal of donor support as he owes his mandate to the people of Zimbabwe.
"Tsvangirai is a democrat, who was elected publicly in a democratic forum called a congress. It is that forum which will make or unmake a leader," he said.
Tamborinyoka said the MDC-T was a democratic party where anyone who aspires to be a leader can challenge the president through a congress and not through a hostile takeover arranged and plotted nocturnally."It is congress that decides leaders in MDC-T and not a forum elsewhere," he said.
A top party insider told the Daily News on Sunday yesterday that in the past few weeks, Western donors have fuelled divisions in the MDC-T by lending an ear to the rebels, while abandoning Tsvangirai.
"These donors want leadership renewal in the MDC-T and they have made it clear even to Tsvangirai himself," said a top MDC-T official speaking on condition of anonymity.
"I can tell you that both British and United States diplomats are heavily involved in this scheme. While they were disturbances at Harvest House last week, they were not as bad as being portrayed now.
"It's now a game of play-acting for the donors, where some are playing victim to gain sympathy.
"It's surprising that two days after the so-called violence at Harvest House, two of the rebels were busy visiting donors soliciting for money claiming that they are victims of violence.
"But both the donors and the rebels are playing into the hands of Zanu PF because (President) Mugabe's party wants Tsvangirai out of the equation by 2018."
Following his defeat to Mugabe and Zanu PF in the July 31 polls, Tsvangirai has been forced to quell discontent from some senior MDC-T officials who have been calling for the former premier to step down after suffering three consecutive disputed defeats to Mugabe.
Sources privy to developments in the labour-backed movement say officials demanding leadership renewal have all along been responsible for sourcing donor funds to bankroll all party activities, but they have since stopped because of Tsvangirai's refusal to step down.
Exiled MDC-T treasurer-general Roy Bennett - who has openly called for Tsvangirai's resignation - has been the major link between the MDC-T and the donor community.
Last month, Mangoma wrote a damning letter asking Tsvangirai to step down and pave way for a new leader.
"The rebels are popular with donors and not with the people. And whoever leads the MDC-T must be elected by the people at congress," said another source.
The source queried foreigners' interest in determining who should lead the MDC-T.
In an effort to avert a financial crisis and total collapse of the party, Tsvangirai has called upon millions of his supporters to finance the MDC-T through subscriptions beginning in March, but political analysts believe that the withdrawal of donor support will cripple the opposition's efforts to wrest power from Zanu PF.
Job Sikhala, MDC 99 leader and founding MDC leader, said without adequate funding, the opposition party's campaign would be in jeopardy and the party's effort to strengthen its grassroots support would be futile.
"It (donor support withdrawal) cripples the campaigns and politics is always associated with money. The logistical aspects of any political campaign centres on the resources available to you," Sikhala said.
Makusha Mugabe, the UK Midlands North MDC-T district spokesperson, said he was not aware of the donor pull-out, "but if there is such a thing it is obviously related to the treasurer and deputy treasurer briefing the donors negatively about their own party for their own political benefit".
Mugabe said it was no secret that political parties get external support as no party will survive without funds. He said funding from the Political Parties Finance Act was insufficient.
"What the party needs to do is to appoint or elect some or some people who have the full confidence to be able to mount fund-raising campaigns for the party, mobilise members to start paying their dues, give confidence in the Diaspora to restart their structured financial support for the party," Mugabe said.
"All issues of transparency must be sorted out and members' contributions acknowledged openly.
"Once the party starts pulling together instead of apart, these issues will be sorted out and of course whatever members can contribute can make a significant contribution because MDC-T has a very large membership."
Mugabe said the future of the party remains in the hands of its members.
Highly-placed sources in the donor community confirmed that the MDC-T rebels who are pushing for Tsvangirai's ouster, have been holding secret meetings with diplomats and soliciting for funds to topple the opposition leader.
And in the wake of scuffles at the MDC-T headquarters last week which left deputy treasurer, Elton Mangoma's shirt torn, the heat has been turned on the beleaguered MDC-T leader.
Donors argue that the MDC-T leader's personal indiscretions negatively affected the image of the party, both within and outside the country. But on the ground, Tsvangirai has secured a ringing endorsement from all the 210 district chairpersons, a reality that is at variance with the donors' perceptions.
The intra-party violence has also been played up to entice donors to the group of rebels, and in the process dumping Tsvangirai, whose party is now penniless.
The embattled former prime minister told his supporters at a rally in Harare last weekend that the membership, starting in March, will have to start bankrolling the party through monthly donations.
Donors were said to channelling their funds towards the putsch against the 61-year-old opposition leader.
Luke Tamborinyoka, Tsvangirai's spokesperson, said the MDC-T leader was not worried about the withdrawal of donor support as he owes his mandate to the people of Zimbabwe.
"Tsvangirai is a democrat, who was elected publicly in a democratic forum called a congress. It is that forum which will make or unmake a leader," he said.
Tamborinyoka said the MDC-T was a democratic party where anyone who aspires to be a leader can challenge the president through a congress and not through a hostile takeover arranged and plotted nocturnally."It is congress that decides leaders in MDC-T and not a forum elsewhere," he said.
A top party insider told the Daily News on Sunday yesterday that in the past few weeks, Western donors have fuelled divisions in the MDC-T by lending an ear to the rebels, while abandoning Tsvangirai.
"These donors want leadership renewal in the MDC-T and they have made it clear even to Tsvangirai himself," said a top MDC-T official speaking on condition of anonymity.
"I can tell you that both British and United States diplomats are heavily involved in this scheme. While they were disturbances at Harvest House last week, they were not as bad as being portrayed now.
"It's now a game of play-acting for the donors, where some are playing victim to gain sympathy.
"It's surprising that two days after the so-called violence at Harvest House, two of the rebels were busy visiting donors soliciting for money claiming that they are victims of violence.
"But both the donors and the rebels are playing into the hands of Zanu PF because (President) Mugabe's party wants Tsvangirai out of the equation by 2018."
Following his defeat to Mugabe and Zanu PF in the July 31 polls, Tsvangirai has been forced to quell discontent from some senior MDC-T officials who have been calling for the former premier to step down after suffering three consecutive disputed defeats to Mugabe.
Sources privy to developments in the labour-backed movement say officials demanding leadership renewal have all along been responsible for sourcing donor funds to bankroll all party activities, but they have since stopped because of Tsvangirai's refusal to step down.
Exiled MDC-T treasurer-general Roy Bennett - who has openly called for Tsvangirai's resignation - has been the major link between the MDC-T and the donor community.
Last month, Mangoma wrote a damning letter asking Tsvangirai to step down and pave way for a new leader.
"The rebels are popular with donors and not with the people. And whoever leads the MDC-T must be elected by the people at congress," said another source.
The source queried foreigners' interest in determining who should lead the MDC-T.
In an effort to avert a financial crisis and total collapse of the party, Tsvangirai has called upon millions of his supporters to finance the MDC-T through subscriptions beginning in March, but political analysts believe that the withdrawal of donor support will cripple the opposition's efforts to wrest power from Zanu PF.
Job Sikhala, MDC 99 leader and founding MDC leader, said without adequate funding, the opposition party's campaign would be in jeopardy and the party's effort to strengthen its grassroots support would be futile.
"It (donor support withdrawal) cripples the campaigns and politics is always associated with money. The logistical aspects of any political campaign centres on the resources available to you," Sikhala said.
Makusha Mugabe, the UK Midlands North MDC-T district spokesperson, said he was not aware of the donor pull-out, "but if there is such a thing it is obviously related to the treasurer and deputy treasurer briefing the donors negatively about their own party for their own political benefit".
Mugabe said it was no secret that political parties get external support as no party will survive without funds. He said funding from the Political Parties Finance Act was insufficient.
"What the party needs to do is to appoint or elect some or some people who have the full confidence to be able to mount fund-raising campaigns for the party, mobilise members to start paying their dues, give confidence in the Diaspora to restart their structured financial support for the party," Mugabe said.
"All issues of transparency must be sorted out and members' contributions acknowledged openly.
"Once the party starts pulling together instead of apart, these issues will be sorted out and of course whatever members can contribute can make a significant contribution because MDC-T has a very large membership."
Mugabe said the future of the party remains in the hands of its members.
Source - dailynews
